There are 20 news items for 2019 in our database.

Skywings News - 2019

Girard conquers the Andes

French paraglider pilot Antoine Girard recently returned from Chile having completed the first ever paraglider crossing of the central Andes. In doing so he became the first ever paraglider pilot to fly above the summit of Aconcagua, at 6,962m the highest peak in the Americas.

Antoine's 100+km flight from Argentina to Chile took three and a quarter hours and reached 7,200m. During his expedition he also claimed Rob Whittall's 25-year-old world height gain record and recorded Chile's biggest-ever FAI triangle at 129km. In 2016 Antoine soared to over 8,100m in the Karakoram and in 2107 was nominated National Geographic magazine's Adventurer of the Year.

Posted: 28 April 2019
By: J. Schofield

Paramotor distance record at 1,132km!

Estonian paramotorist Lauri Kadakas flew 1,132.7km on March 9th to claim the straight-line-distance world record, eclipsing the 1,105km flown by Ramon Morillas in 2007.

Using a Zero Gravity HPR225 motor under a MacPara Paradox 27 wing, Lauri flew from Queensland's Charters Towers airport and followed the Barkly Highway - Australia's Route 66! - westward, to land in the bush in the middle of nowhere after 15 hours in the air.

Lauri took off carrying more than 70 litres of fuel including 55 litres in a bag-tank on his lap; the gravity feed to his smaller tank failed and he was only able to stay in the air by continually squeezing the primer bulb. His take-off had been at an all-up weight of 200kg! Most of the flight was accomplished at between 7,000 and 9,000ft. We salute Lauri on this tremendous feat of endurance!

Posted: 28 April 2019
By: Joe Schofield

Parafest

The unique four-day flying event and three-day music festival runs from July 11th - 14th at Caerwys, North Wales. It's a weekend of fun with like-minded people, the UK's only trade show for foot-launched and single-seat-trike aviation and the year's biggest pilot social.

The site, with easy road links from anywhere in the UK, is close to the hills for free flyers and to the coast and the sea breeze for power pilots. It's a social event the whole pilot community and their families can enjoy.

Musical attractions include the UK's premier Bob Marley tribute act and the spectacular 11-piece Chicago Blues Brothers, and support acts cover a range of genres. There's a second stage for 'unplugged' acoustic performances, and open-mic sessions for pilots and their friends to reveal their talents and jam with others.

Non-flying activities include a para-jumble (bring your pre-loved kit), Jean Francois Chabaud discussing his 6,000-mile US paramotor adventure, a GASCo safety presentation and many other attractions.

CIVL's Aerobatic Committee has organised a seminar for candidates to become competition judges, to be held at Organyà in Spain on May 12th - 16th. It will be led by top acro pilots Théo de Blic and Horacio Llorens.

The aim is to form a team of highly-qualified judges from as many nations as possible. Acro is the most complex discipline to score and a new 'battle' format has made it even more so.

To register your interest, please complete this on-line form ASAP. A selection will be made by the committee and elected candidates invited to the seminar. Travel and accommodation will be jointly funded by CIVL and the national aero clubs.

Posted: 5 April 2019
By: J Schofield

Icarus Cup volunteers sought

This year's BHPFC human powered aircraft competition will be held at Lasham from July 20th July to the 28th.

Any volunteers interested in helping to marshal the event over the week should email Tony Prentice, or phone him on 01474 706405 (onsite camping is available).

The RAeS will shortly announce a new competition aimed at first-time builders and flyers, to encourage new entrants to the human-powered flying world. More details here soon.

Posted: 5 April 2019
By: J Schofield

Jack Pimblett joins Advance Team

British acro star and all-rounder Jack Pimblett has been invited to become an Advance Team pilot.

Flying from a young age, Jack finished 7th at the 2018 Acro World Tour final.

He joins fellow Advance neophyte Victor 'Bicho' Carrera, the Chilean acro and professional tandem pilot who finished two places above him at the World Tour final.

Posted: 5 April 2019
By: J Schofield

The Last Glaciers

The Last Glaciers

A few years ago filmmaker Craig Leeson, and Malcolm Wood of LevelWings paragliders, released a film raising awareness about the problems single-use plastics cause to the environment.

Screened in more than 60 countries and translated many languages, it was supported by environmentalists including Sir David Attenborough. A Plastic Ocean helped change government, business and UN environmental policies and garnered many documentary awards.

The same team is now working to bring a similar awareness to climate change. Mounting evidence of global warming still brings heated debate among politicians and the public.

To represent visually the changes taking place, The Last Glaciers follows a group of paragliders and extreme speedwing pilots as they access previously-impossible filming opportunities to highlight climate change and reveal how mankind is affecting the future.

Glaciers melt and millions of people are at risk of natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides. Communities face uncertain futures as our changing climate impacts ecosystems, agriculture, water systems, infrastructure and human health. The film's message is a wake-up call - see the Last Glaciers Instagram page for further details.

If we don't address global warming now, we will not survive the changes that will occur on earth.

Posted: 5 April 2019
By: J Schofield

Safety Notice - Finsterwalder Quick-Out Carabiner

Finsterwalder and the BHPA have issued a safety notices regarding the Finsterwalder Quick-Out Carabiner.

When Finsterwalder set up their production of the Quick-Out release buttons in January 2015, about 20 release buttons were produced incorrectly; and at least one such faulty Quick-Out carabiner was put into circulation.

The error eliminates one of the 4 security levels: To open the carabiner, it is sufficient to press only the correct release button instead of pressing both release buttons simultaneously.

At the final inspection, every single Quick-Out carabiner undergoes a load test of 2,000 DaN. However, the error was not noticeable, since the stress test is also passed with only one release button intact. If the Quick-Out is operated in accordance with the current version of their operating instructions, downloadable from the Finsterwalder website, the error will be noticed immediately.

All Finsterwalder Quick-Out users are therefore urged to check their carabiners before they next use them.